When the Sea Turns Black
by ecelsiore
Summary: something happens at NERV, and the Children's lives are changed forever.
1. prologue

Neon Genesis Evangelion (owned by GAINAX).  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
When the Sea Turns Black  
  
1  
  
By: Ecelsiore  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
It has been seventeen years…  
  
  
  
  
  
Seventeen years since "the accident" occurred.  
  
  
  
  
  
Seventeen years since the klaxons were last heard.  
  
  
  
  
  
Nevada, NERV Headquarters (formerly NERV Second Branch)  
  
  
  
In one of the steel halls, the rhythmic thumping of shoes making contact with the floor was heard as a woman ran through it.  
  
She was struggling to put her left arm into her jacket as she continuously shouted at her cell phone. She used her head and right shoulder to wedge in the phone, and with her right arm free, she held her jacket in place as her other arm wormed its way through the bright red sleeve. From her right jacket pocket she produced a crimson beret. On it was a symbol that indicated her rank as Captain. She put it on head as best as she could.  
  
From her other pocket she pulled out a half-eaten turkey sandwich. "Ach, it's wet!" she commented before taking a bite.  
  
"What are you, stupid?!" she shouted, dropping her sandwich in the process. "Dammit!"  
  
"Yochiro, no one is going to die under my comma--You're there? Good, just stay in your entry plug and wait for further orders." She added.  
  
With that, the woman turned off her phone and entered an elevator. As she waited for the elevator to reach its destination, she took the time to straighten her jacket and beret. She brushed back the locks of auburn hair that were starting to tickle her nose. The clicking of the elevator stopped, indicating that she was on the right floor.  
  
She stepped out into the chaos that was awaiting her.  
  
As she looked around, she saw some techs that were frozen in place as they stared at the monitors. Those who weren't either frantically typed at their consoles or ran around with information printouts. Everyone was yelling out procedures. One of the technicians, Mana Kirishima, noticed her arrival and awaited any questions or commands.  
  
"What's going on?" the Captain yelled at her. "Why didn't the observation center detect it?"  
  
"It simply appeared about six kilometers from the city!" she stated.  
  
The Captain looked up, and saw both the Commander and Vice-Commander looking from their office. Both of them were standing like two monoliths behind the glass windows from where they were watching.  
  
On the outside, Asuka Langley Soryu was as calm as a Hindu cow. If only the situation was not as serious, anyone who might steal a glance might not be able to look away. In her red jacket, beret, and a black skirt that barely reached mid-thigh, she looked absolutely stunning. Anyone who knew Misato Katsuragi would have been shocked at the resemblance.  
  
"Where is it now?" Asuka asked a female technician.  
  
"The target is currently four kilometers from the city and closing. Pattern Orange. No AT field is being detected."  
  
"No AT Field? What is this?" Asuka said.  
  
The screen showed a sphere hovering above the desert that surrounded the city. It seemed to be taking its time, like a predator stalking its prey. It did not look dangerous, everyone in NERV knew what these things are capable of, either from watching the tapes or the few that knew from experience.  
  
Asuka was one of those experienced with Angel attacks, but any two angels are as different as night and day. Their attack patterns, behavior and intelligence level vary so much that no generalizations can be given, save for their use of AT fields and their blue pattern.  
  
She already hated it.  
  
Had this happened seventeen years ago, Asuka would be in her beloved Unit- 02, sharpening her claws and flinging insults at Baka-Shinji. She would be proclaiming that she was the best pilot, while counting the ways she could rip the Angel to shreds. However, her piloting days were long gone. All she could do now was sit at the sidelines and dish out the orders. And although she wouldn't readily accept it, she was beginning to get nervous.  
  
'Scheiße! I've lived with Baka-Shinji far too long. I'm becoming a worry wart.' She thought. She tried to think of something else as his mere name brought out memories that she was still trying to forget. She tensed up a bit as the Evangelions were prepped in the cages. 'Here we go Soryu, it's showtime.'  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
As Yochiro Mizushima sat in his entry plug, he tried desperately to block out everything that was happening around him. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, and gripped the butterfly controls a little harder, fearing that his shivering loosened his hold.  
  
He started to think about how his life had turned upside down and inside out two years ago, when he received the letter at his aunt's front door. "FOR YOUR EYES ONLY" it said.  
  
At first he thought it was a joke. A bad one. But after careful observation, he realized that no one would go out of their way to trick him with this letter. With this realization, he became excited about it. After all, he did not receive many, and the message on it reminded him of the old James Bond movies he watched. He opened the letter as quickly as he could, and carefully read what the message had for him.  
  
Little did he know that by accepting the job stated in the letter, his life as he knew it ended. He was now the Seventh Child, designated pilot of Evangelion Unit-04, and was to become a savior of the world. It sounded surreal. In the fourteen years of his life, the word "adventure" or "danger" never came up. Now, he was supposed to pilot a 40-story high, silver robot that he had only heard of and seen in documentaries.  
  
During the first six months, he struggled to get through his new setting. He was now a resident of Vegas-02, the city that held NERV headquarters. He lived with Captain Asuka Langley, a gorgeous woman, whose demeanor just about defies all explanation. He went to a new school, considered by many as the best academic center in the world, and school of the children NERV's employees had. He had to adjust to speaking English at an everyday basis.  
  
And the tests. The damn tests. Hours and hours of tests. What Yochiro wouldn't do for NERV to take the tests out of their agenda. He began to despise being a pilot, and for a time he considered running away. He sighed to himself as he remembered how he decided not to run. He was--  
  
"Tighten your grip a little harder, and you might actually break the controls."  
  
Yochiro almost jumped after hearing Jubei Takeyama, designated Fourth Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-03.  
  
"I… I was just making sure… it's just that I… you know how I get…"" Yochiro answered softly.  
  
"Yeah, I can't argue with you… I'm feeling a little nervous myself," Jubei replied, "but what can we do, we can't expect it to simply convulse and say, 'Is this of your liking?'"  
  
"I-I guess you're right…" Yochiro said.  
  
"Of course I'm right. Let's just try to make the best of this situation and relax."  
  
"What if this IS the best of this situation?"  
  
"Well then… we're fucked."  
  
"Why don't you Asian kids talk like normal people?!" A voice said in English.  
  
Taking on the silent cue, Jubei switched to English and replied, "Watch your mouth white boy, or feel the wrath of my spinning dragon technique!"  
  
"Um… It will be quickly followed by my black lotus offense! " Yochiro added.  
  
"O shit, two against one again, Asians versus the Caucasian," Said Elias Tiniakos, designated Sixth Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-05, "since we can't say, 'please die' to this Angel, why don't the both of you use that karate shit you're braggin' about against it?"  
  
"How about this Elias, why don't you just pray to Zeus to shove a lightning bolt up this angel's ass? That would save us a whole lotta trouble!" Jubei said, giggling a little as he did.  
  
"I ran out of goats! I prayed for good harvest two weeks ago!" Elias smirked, barely containing his laughter.  
  
That sent the three pilots to a laughing fit. This is what they usually did to ease some tension. The first time he saw Jubei and Elias do this, Yochiro felt ready to knock Elias' two front teeth out, thinking he was serious. But through time, he became used to it, and eventually joined in on the exchange, sometimes even initiating the conversation.  
  
"All right, knock it off children. You're embarrassing us," Captain Langley said over the speaker system, "we're launching in 3 minutes."  
  
"I guess this is it," Elias said with a sigh, shivering a little as he did so, "good luck guys."  
  
"Who needs luck, when you have skill?" Jubei asked.  
  
Yochiro can only shake his head at his friend's bravado. "Are you sure we have enough skill? None of us have definite combat experience against these things, come to think of it, except for the Captain, no one I know has combat experience against the angels." He said.  
  
"Stop being the pessimist Yochiro," Elias replied, "besides, don't you feel the rush, I mean," he ticked the reasons off using his fingers, "you're in this huge ass robot, wielding lances, use guns and fighting some alien being from who knows where… if you don't feel any excitement over that, then you've got a few screws loose in your head."  
  
"I think we all have a few screws loose in our heads for piloting these things." Yochiro said too softly for anyone to hear.  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
  
  
"How are the pilots doing?" Asuka asked Mana.  
  
"Ma'am, the Fourth Child's sync ratio is steady at 55.8 percent, the Sixth Child is at 52.3 percent, and the Seventh child is steady at 53.4 percent." She replied.  
  
'Hmm… my record has yet to be beaten. The other one also,' Asuka thought as she heard the information, 'And hopefully it won't have to.' "Status of the target?"  
  
"Ma'am, the target is within 2 kilometers from headquarters!"  
  
"Very well then," Asuka said, "Launch Evas!" She shouted, mimicking the tone that her former guardian used.  
  
"Ma'am, the catapults for Units 03 and 05 are malfunctioning!"  
  
"What?!? Try it again!" Asuka replied. 'Yochiro's not going to like this…'  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
  
  
Yochiro felt the speed and power of the catapults. It felt almost like one of the roller coasters he used to ride before becoming a pilot. He felt himself being pushed down to his chair as his Eva rose to the surface. He saw the grayish color of the titanium walls flash briefly before the city and the sphere that hovered near its outskirts replaced it.  
  
"Yochiro," Asuka said through the intercom, "the catapults for the other Evas are malfunctioning, just go to armament building twenty-two for now."  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
"We'll be ready to launch them in four minutes according to the technicians."  
  
"Yes ma'am."  
  
He made the Eva run as fast as he could, hiding behind the armaments buildings and picking up a pallet gun from one of them.  
  
Finally he arrived at his position and looked around. The other Evas were still not launched. He spied on the angel as it hovered above the city. It was still taking its slow pace, and showed no signs of hostility.  
  
One minute passed. Still no signs of the other Evas. Yochiro began to hyperventilate. The relatively large amounts of sweat he was excreting mixed with the LCL.  
  
'Why is time moving so slowly?!?" He thought. 'Calm down Yochiro, calm down. The others will be coming, and everything would be alright.'  
  
Two minutes passed. No Evas. He looked for the Angel. It was about a kilometer away.  
  
"Yochiro, the other Evas have launched. Wait for them to reach their positions." Asuka said.  
  
Yochiro saw the other Evas come to the surface and run towards their respective destinations. He turned his attention to the sphere. It was now about 500 meters away from him.  
  
One more minute passed.  
  
"Are they in position yet?" Yochiro asked.  
  
"You know Eva can't move that fast!" Asuka answered.  
  
The sphere was getting closer.  
  
It was about 300 meters from where Yochiro was.  
  
Maybe less…  
  
From his viewpoint, it seemed as if the angel was moving faster now.  
  
He then analyzed his options.  
  
He had a wide-open shot. This may be the closest he could get to the angel. Any moment now, it might unleash its attack and start destroying everything in its path. People might get hurt when that occurs.  
  
But his teammates weren't in position yet. If the situation got a little out of hand, he had no back up at all. He hadn't experienced it yet, but Asuka told him that the pilot feels every blow thrown at the Eva. The thought of being mutilated did not seem enticing to Yochiro.  
  
His analysis made him fail to notice the progress of the angel.  
  
'It's right there! Shit! Calm down calm down calm down! Good in, block bad…'  
  
"Are you in position?" Yochiro whispered to his teammates.  
  
"Hold on, I'm still about 200 meters from it Yochiro." Jubei answered.  
  
"I'm 150 meters away." Elias said.  
  
Yochiro trained his pistol on the sphere…  
  
'It's now or never…' he thought.  
  
And fired.  
  
That's when all hell broke loose.  
  
The sphere disappeared as soon as the bullet hit it.  
  
A shadow appeared directly beneath Unit-04 and it began to swallow it. As it did, time slowed down for Yochiro.  
  
The scene before him played somewhat like a dream.  
  
He heard someone screaming out. He heard the same person call for Captain Langley, Jubei, and Elias. It took Yochiro a few moments to realize that it was him who was screaming. He tried to stop, but found himself powerless to do so.  
  
He heard Asuka scream out to him to get out of there.  
  
He heard both Jubei and Elias try to make him move.  
  
He saw them all in front of him. They were all shouting through the communication windows. Their messages choppy from the flickering of the screen.  
  
But as he looked down, his attention became focused on the darkness that was overwhelming him and his Eva.  
  
He tried to hold on to the armaments building, but it was being sucked into the shadow as well. In a desperate attempt to free himself, he plunged the Eva's fists into the darkness, but that only served to worsened his situation, as it did not let go of them.  
  
He could only hear Asuka by now. Her voice sounded tiny, and desperate. There was something else in her voice… was it… fear? It couldn't be, since Captain Langley knew no fear.  
  
Yochiro looked up one last time. It was a beautiful day. There were no clouds in the desert sky. It looked so blue, so brilliant and so bright.  
  
He continued to scream as the whole world turned black.  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
  
  
Asuka was on the verge of tears.  
  
She wouldn't let them fall of course. At least that was what she told herself.  
  
It took five minutes before the first tear rolled down her cheek. Her knees gave way, and as she crumpled to the floor she was overwhelmed by the surge of memories that forced themselves into her mind.  
  
She promised herself long ago that she would never cry. And she kept her promise quite well.  
  
She had more fingers in her one hand than instances when she did let her tears fall.  
  
Two of them involved shadows.  
  
She found it hard to speak after seeing Unit-04 sink. It was left to the Vice-Commander to make the other pilots retreat, and that command was followed not without protests.  
  
They reeled the umbilical cord back in, but an Eva was not attached.  
  
Yochiro had sixteen hours left to live.  
  
"F-fuckin… fucking twice!" She said through sobs.  
  
She covered her eyes with her hands, the memory of that fateful day seventeen years ago haunting her once more.  
  
In her mind she replayed how the shadow first hit its mark…  
  
  
  
To be continued…  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
  
  
2 Author's Babbling  
  
There it goes… my first fanfic.  
  
I'm an amateur at this so I don't know exactly what to put. I've seen many that are pages and pages long. I don't have an omake for this chapter, but maybe in future chapters I might write some.  
  
I thank Random1377 and Ryoma for pre-reading my fic. Without them, my fic would be much, much worse.  
  
All C&C's are welcome, my email is: ecelsiore@hotmail.com.  
  
Neon Genesis Evangelion, all characters, concepts, and those things that are supposed to have encircled R's and TM's are not mine.  
  
But are the ACCs technically my bitches? 


	2. chapter 1

Neon Genesis Evangelion (owned by GAINAX).  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
1 When the Sea Turns Black  
  
Chapter 1: Nightmares are Born  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
  
  
August 4, 2015  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
The sun was beginning to take a peek through the horizon. The perpetual summer sky was a beautiful kaleidoscope of indigo, yellow, orange, and red. Birds were starting to sing their everyday melodies as they flew from tree to tree. The streets were still virtually empty, only a few buses occupied them every now and then. The few restaurants that set up shop in the area were warming the kitchens and heating the tea.  
  
The city of Tokyo-3 was beginning to stir, its daily routines getting started. It was quite a sight. With skyscrapers rising from holes in the ground and the state-of-the-art technology used all over it, Tokyo-3 could be considered the eighth wonder of the world.  
  
Although it was on short supply of one important ingredient, something all cities have overflowing amounts of. One would not notice it without closer inspection.  
  
The city lacked residents.  
  
However, a corrupt local government or high crime rates do not cause this. It is caused by a recent 'foreign-relations' problem. The city tended to attract beings with one main objective: the extinction of man. These beings, which are ironically called 'Angels', brought forth destruction and turmoil to the lives of the people that lived in it, causing most of them to migrate to a safer, more peaceful community.  
  
For those who remained, their hopes and dreams were put on the shoulders of the agency sworn to protect man from these Angels. The agency more commonly known as NERV, who had the only weapon proven effective against the Angels, the humanoid fighting machines called Evangelions. The mysterious biomechanical robots piloted exclusively by fourteen year olds.  
  
  
  
In a particular apartment unit located within the suburbs of the city/fortress, one of the pilots was enjoying his morning bath. His dark- brown hair was damp, and his eyelids were shut, concealing the deepest blue eyes one could ever see. He had the tiniest of smiles on his face as he lay submerged in the warm water. He seemed at peace, a contrast to the distraught state he always was in whenever facing the outside world.  
  
'Hmm… A nice warm bath to start the day. Bathing cleanses the mind and soul indeed,' Shinji Ikari thought as he let his worries melt away for a few precious moments, 'now why can't the rest of my day be this peaceful?'  
  
The sudden and furious knocking on the bathroom door reminded him why.  
  
"Baka-Shinji!!! I think you've had enough time pleasuring yourself! Stop fantasizing about me and go make breakfast!!!" Asuka Langley shouted.  
  
"I'm not fantasizing about you, Asuka!" He replied.  
  
"Why, am I not good enough for the Invincible Shinji-sama?"  
  
"No-I mean yes!—I mean-uh—what I meant to say was I—"  
  
"So you WERE having hentai thoughts about me, weren't you, you perverted little stooge?!"  
  
"No I wasn't!"  
  
"Maybe that's why some of my underwear are missing…"  
  
"I didn't take your underwear! I only wash and dry them! Nothing else!"  
  
"Really? Then why are some of them missing?"  
  
"How should I know that? Ask Misato, or-or maybe ask yourself! Where did YOU put YOUR underwear?"  
  
"Are you implying that I'm incompetent?!?"  
  
"I never implied anything of that sort! Asuka, stop this nonsense or-or…" he trailed off while he struggling to come up with a decent threat.  
  
"Or what, Baka?" She asked before she started tapping her foot on the ground.  
  
"I-uh, or I… I won't make you breakfast!" He finally said, although it came out more like a question than a threat. 'Shinji, you're pathetic.'  
  
"Shinji, you're pathetic." Asuka stated flatly, reflecting what he thought. "Now get out of there, and make me my breakfast."  
  
"Yes, Asuka." He said softly.  
  
"You're just too easy, Baka-Shinji." She said before walking away.  
  
  
  
He sighed as he slowly got out of his bath. 'Running away again, Shinji?' a part of him asked. He dried himself off, and with another sigh, opened the door. He went directly to 'Shinji's Lovely Suite', making as little noise as possible, especially near the door leading to the redhead's room. He dressed in his school uniform, and picked up his SDAT player.  
  
He slid his door ever so slightly and took a peek of the hallway. Seeing no signs of his roommate and colleague, he quickly tiptoed his way out. Relief came over him after hearing the faint sound of running water as he passed by the bathroom.  
  
  
  
The kitchen was one of Shinji Ikari's areas of expertise. He quickly donned his apron, and rummaged around the fridge in search of the necessary items for breakfast. He decided against anything elaborate since the skirmish earlier took away any extra time he had. He put the bread in the toaster and turned on the stove for the eggs. After that, he opened a can of tuna for Pen-Pen and worked the coffee maker. With those tasks done, he pulled out his Math homework and set on solving the problems he failed to do the night before.  
  
As he was calculating the solution for the final problem, a zombie-like moan emanating from the hallway informed Shinji that a certain Major was awake. The purple-haired woman, dressed in a manner Shinji found inappropriate, lazily made her way to the fridge. She took an ice-cold Yebisu Beer can and popped open the lid. She started drinking it, and did not stop until the can was emptied of its contents.  
  
"YEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!" Misato Katsuragi yelled while crumpling the beer can in her hand. "Now that's how you start your morning!"  
  
"Do you really have to make that much noise?" The pilot of Unit-01 queried.  
  
"Yes, it makes you feel ready to face the world! The beer awakens your senses, too! You should try it out-" she paused as she considered her charge's age, "-in a few years. But shouting in the morning would really help bring some steam out."  
  
"It would also help make the neighbors move out. And I don't think that beer is very nutritious." He retorted.  
  
"Pssh! The traditional Japanese breakfast—"  
  
"starts with rice, Miso soup, and sake. You told me this several times before."  
  
"Then why do you still shake your head at my Yebisu?"  
  
"Because you're still the only one I know that has beer instead of coffee in the morning."  
  
"Leave me alone!" She muttered in defeat.  
  
"Guten Morgen." Asuka said as she walked in fully dressed.  
  
"Good Morning, Asuka!" Misato replied in her cheery voice, not wanting to be the topic of conversation any longer. "Eat your breakfast quick, or you might be late for school!"  
  
"I would have been earlier, but someone took a little too long in the bath!"  
  
"I did not! You barged in on me!" Shinji shot back.  
  
"Whatever. Anyway, Misato-san, is there a test scheduled today?"  
  
"No, and before I forget, I'm working late again tonight. Just order out or something."  
  
The doorbell rang, and Shinji put his homework down to accept the guests. The door slid open to reveal the figures of Touji Suzuhara and Kensuke Aida.  
  
"Good Morning, Shinji!" The taller boy said in a cheerful voice.  
  
"Yes, good morning, and how is Misato?" The bespectacled boy added.  
  
From the kitchen, Asuka was heard yelling, "The three stooges are all present! How are Larry and Curly? And where is Hikari?"  
  
"Oh, da class rep is at school early, takin' care of da class an' stuff, ya know, responsibilities. Stuff ya wouldn't know about." Touji replied.  
  
"What the hell would you know about responsibilities, you little monkey bastard!"  
  
Touji was about to unleash his own tirade of obscenities, but Misato cut him off, "Now, now, children. It's too early for a fight. And besides, they're our guests, so treat them as such Asuka." She reasoned.  
  
"Aah, Misato is just so cool... I wish a girl like her would order me around." Kensuke said dreamily, just out of Misato's hearing range.  
  
Shinji shook his head as he went to pick up his books and book bag. 'They still don't know what kind of a slob she is.' "I'm going!" he said as he put his shoes on.  
  
"Wait for me!" Asuka yelled while finishing off her toast.  
  
"Come on, Ikari, let's go! Don't let da demon push you around." Touji urged Shinji.  
  
"Yea, Ikari, come on!" Kensuke pleaded.  
  
"Okay, I'm about t—"  
  
"You idiot! I told you to wait for me!" Asuka cut him off.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Stop apologizing!"  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"Arrgh!" Asuka sighed as she picked up her bag. "We're leaving Misato!"  
  
"Okay!" Misato answered, shoving her arm into the hallway. Touji and Kensuke had tears forming at the mere sight of her forearm waving.  
  
  
  
`````  
  
After entering the classroom, Shinji immediately noticed the absence of Rei Ayanami. 'I guess she's absent again, as usual. It's always either she's unusually early or not here. I wonder where she goes off to all those days…' He pondered while going towards his desk. He sat down and started up his laptop for the school day, even though he was sure the teacher would go and babble about his experiences about his version of Second Impact. He propped his chin on his palm and looked around to observe the events around the classroom. Asuka was currently chatting with Hikari. It seemed that Hikari was not giving Asuka her full attention. She was sneaking glances at someone in the back of the room every now and then. Shinji carefully followed her line of site, as it directly pointed to one particular boy: Touji. Currently, the boy was with Kensuke, and was also sneaking glances. Shinji had heard rumors about the two, but he hadn't seen the two of them together and he did not feel like barging in on his friend's lovelife.  
  
Finally the old Sensei arrived. Immediately, Hikari switched to class representative mode and commanded, "Stand up! Bow! Sit down!"  
  
The teacher started slow, and picked up his pace as he went along his story. Student heads dropped like flies after hearing his signature line, "During the Second Impact, I was…" The students practically knew the story by heart, and hearing it for the umpteenth time did not seem enticing.  
  
Asuka had trouble keeping her eyelids open while listening to the teacher drone about Second Impact. 'I know even more about the real Second Impact than this old man does. I should be telling the story. That way no one would be bored. Bah! I shouldn't even be in this stupid backward school! I graduated last year!' She sighed, 'I wish Kaji would come and pick me up. Only stupid boys go to this school.' Desperate, she opened the Paint program in her laptop, and doodled about anything and everything that came to her mind.  
  
Shinji was already counting down to lunchtime. 'Three hours… what will I do in three hours?' he thought as he struggled to find some form of entertainment. Strangely, sleep would not come to him, and putting his head down did not seem to help. He tried to do what Rei did and looked out the window, but that proved to be as entertaining as watching grass grow. Out of ideas and bored to death, he once again put his head down to try to sleep.  
  
Hikari was constantly looking from one end of the room to the other. She was carefully looking for any misbehaving students. But her focus was diverted from her duty as she came upon the sleeping form of Touji Suzuhara. She thought to herself as she subconsciously began to stare, 'Maybe I should try offering him lunch or something. Kodama and Nozomi always say there's more than enough food for all of us.'  
  
Kensuke typed furiously at his laptop. The information he was currently looking at is not what would be considered legal by NERV. He was trying to get every juicy piece of information that he could. He could never get solid evidence of anything going on at NERV. They were always either old news or rumors. 'Dammit, why don't they just let me pilot an Evangelion? At this rate, even Hikari would get to pilot before me.' He sighed. 'What time is it? 8:20 only? Damn, the old man still has two and a half hours to go… Oh well, might as just play… now what was my password again…' he trailed off as he moved from hacking into NERV's system to playing an ancient pre- Second Impact game. 'Stick together team!'  
  
Touji was still sleeping soundly. Traces of saliva were beginning to form in the corner of his mouth. He tried to beat his record of three minutes staying awake, but his desk seemed very soft and inviting all of a sudden after the old man started the same old Second Impact story.  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
Two hours crawled by. The old man was going at it full strength, he focused all of his emotions into telling his experiences during Second Impact. Had he paid more attention to the state of the students, he would have known that no one was listening to him.  
  
Kensuke still had not died, and the terrorists were still scratching their heads as to how they could not beat this single counter-terrorist who only had a Desert Eagle for a weapon. Some neophytes were foolish enough to make a dash for it, only to get pumped full of lead in a matter of two seconds. The terrorist team could only wonder how much money their enemy has accumulated.  
  
Touji was still in the land of slumber. There was now a pool of drool around the area where his cheek and his desk met. He twitched every now and then, and occasionally mumbled something that Touji himself might not understand had he been awake.  
  
Hikari still held her vigil on the class. She still took quick glances at Touji, wishing she was nearer to him, or better yet be able to talk to him.  
  
Asuka had given up on Paint an hour ago and was now looking online for a new bathing suit. She received a few messages every now and then, but she just ignored or deleted it, knowing that it came from another 'stupid and perverted boy' from the class.  
  
Shinji was two steps away from finally getting to sleep. He had put his head down half an hour ago, but sleep still avoided him. He was facing the window and his view of the outside was a little hazy. However, he did not miss the gunship that flew by a few minutes ago. It seemed to have been heading towards NERV Headquarters. He shrugged it off, 'Must be some test or something.' Again, he tried to sleep.  
  
Suddenly, a second gunship flew by.  
  
And a third.  
  
Then a fourth.  
  
Soon, the sea of choppers that were flying by the school filled his view.  
  
Two cell phones rang in the classroom.  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
The inside of the gunship was dark, and it had more space than Shinji expected. The blades made a very loud and constant sound. Asuka was seated beside him and she was asking the man in front of them for anything about their situation. The man had black military gear on, and in his hands was a rifle with a nightvision scope attached.  
  
"Why can't you tell us anything?!?" Asuka yelled at the man.  
  
"Because what you're asking for is classified!" The man answered. "I'm not authorized to give you any information! Please wait until we get to our destination!"  
  
"Which is where?" Asuka asked once more, standing up in the process.  
  
"I told you kid, it's classified!"  
  
"Baka-Shinji, say something!" She yelled right at the boy's ear.  
  
"I-I think we should listen to him and wait!" Shinji yelled back.  
  
"Baka-Shinji's useless…" Asuka muttered as she went to sit back down.  
  
  
  
`````  
  
  
  
"We're almost there!" The man announced.  
  
"Finally…" Asuka said.  
  
Shinji had been looking through the window as their journey progressed. They went past the mountainous terrains around Tokyo-3 and slowly, the Pacific Ocean came into their view. A few gray dots mottled its waters, and soon he identified the dots as individual ships that made up the Pacific fleet. The chopper headed towards the USS Over the Rainbow, the same supercarrier where Shinji and Asuka first met. Its damages were now fixed, and F-18s once again littered the flat deck.  
  
As the chopper made its slow and rocky descent, Shinji saw a man in a dark blue suit come towards the helipad. His jet-black hair flew in all directions, and his eyes were covered with a pair of sunglasses. He held a hand up to cover his face as the air became stronger. The chopper trembled as it made contact with the ground, and the Children felt the engines die down. The rotation of the blades slowed, and the man in the blue suit slid the door open to welcome the passengers.  
  
"Good Morning, you are the Second and Third Children I presume?" he said.  
  
"Who wants to know?" Asuka asked.  
  
"I'm Mishima Takamitsu. I work for the UN." The man replied. "You remember this ship, am I correct?"  
  
"Yes… this ship brings some memories." Asuka said as she remembered the battle with the Sixth Angel.  
  
"Why don't we go inside and I can explain everything to you?" Mishima suggested.  
  
"We're not going anywhere until you tell us what the situation is!" Asuka declared. "Right, Shinji?"  
  
Shinji could only nod.  
  
The man frowned, "Very well then…" he started. "At 10:00 am today, we lost contact with NERV Headquarters. We suspected an Angel attack, but the klaxons were not turned on. Jammed or lost signals are quite common these days, since the attacks started, so, we assumed that NERV was having a minor technical difficulty."  
  
"We gave them fifteen minutes to regain contact, all the while preparing for the worst. At 10:16 am we moved into Tokyo-3. We deployed ground troops to check Central Dogma, and they found something very interesting."  
  
"Get to the point!!" Asuka demanded.  
  
Running out of patience himself, Takamitsu said,"We estimated that at 10:00 am NERV Headquarters disappeared from the face of the Earth."  
  
  
  
  
  
To be continued…  
  
  
  
  
  
`````  
  
2 Author's Babbling  
  
This is going to be officially the first chapter of my fic. Not much to say, but I still need to thank Ryoma for pre-reading this chapter.  
  
Questions will be answered in the next chapter. I'm still working on it, and I hope to publish it soon.  
  
I have a website now, and you can find this story and some other boring stuff in there. My website is: geocities.com/ecelsiore if you want to know. It's pretty boring right now, but I am working on improving the site.  
  
All C&C's are welcome at my email addy: ecelsiore@hotmail.com  
  
  
  
  
  
Hey lookie here, my own omake theater. Tee hee!  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
*Omake Theater*  
  
  
  
The sun was beginning to take a peek through the horizon. The perpetual summer sky was a beautiful kaleidoscope of indigo, yellow, orange, and red. Birds were starting to sing their everyday melodies as they flew from tree to tree. The streets were still virtually empty, only a few buses occupied them every now and then. The few restaurants that set up shop in the area were warming the kitchens and heating the tea.  
  
The city of Tokyo-3 was beginning to stir, its daily routines getting started. It was quite a sight. With skyscrapers rising from holes in the ground and the state-of-the-art technology used all over it, Tokyo-3 could be considered the eighth wonder of the world.  
  
Although it was on short supply of one important ingredient, something all cities have overflowing amounts of. One would not notice it without closer inspection.  
  
The city lacked ho's.  
  
That's right. Prostitutes were extremely rare in Tokyo-3. Maybe because the only men who can be 'serviced' in Tokyo-3 are the following:  
  
1. The brooding, secretive bastard who wears sunglasses even at night, and sits behind his desk all day. (Under the desk is very cramped, and there is zero visibility.  
  
2. The cowardly fourteen-year old who had little 'trysts' with a gray- haired, red-eyed, fifteen-year old boy. Ho's do not like the threesome thingy.  
  
3. The big black blocks. 'Nuff said.  
  
4. The nerdy fourteen-year old—with guns—ho's don't see a day without the sound of a gun being unloaded. Yeah, I'm talking about THAT gun too.  
  
5. The fourteen-year old jock. He might be 'serviceable', but the 'being a minor' thingy does not bode well for the business.  
  
6. The pony-tailed secret agent. Ah, now at first look, he might have been the most serviceable, but this guy turns out to be a cheap bastard that does his disappearing act when the time to fork over the cash comes. 


End file.
